“Successful authors know that their job isn't done when they complete their latest manuscript,” said NCWN Executive Director Ed Southern. “They know their job's not done when the book is published. ‘Indiependents Day’ will tell authors—working in any genre, with any sort of publisher, including themselves—how to finish their job, and work with bookstores to get their books into readers' hands.”

Led by both booksellers and authors, the sessions begin with “The End Is Not the End,” which will instruct registrants on what an author needs to know (and keep in mind) once he or she finishes writing a manuscript and starts thinking about publication.

Later that morning, “Your Bookseller, Your Friend” will offer a plan for how to get booksellers to stock, display, and hand-sell a book—without bugging them to death.

“Tours of Duty” is the third session, where authors will learn how to plan, promote, and behave themselves on their author tours.

Participants will then break for lunch, and have the option of purchasing a ticket to the SIBA Discovery Show Saturday Lunch featuring Lee Boudreaux, current editor at Ecco Press, who is launching her new imprint at Little, Brown: Lee Boudreaux Books. Registrants may also have lunch on their own.

Post-lunch, Session IV offers “The Shelf Is Not the End (the Reader Is),” what an author needs to do to keep their book(s) on—and flying off—the shelves, after the new-release window has closed and the tour is done.

SIBA’s Nicki Leone (aka Lady Banks) will lead the final session, “What SIBA Does, and Can Do for You.” Here, authors will learn how to work with the Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance to reach bookstores and readers. This session concludes with a tour of the trade show floor, which is likely each registrant's only opportunity to walk the floor, as the show is not open to the public.

“Indiependents Day” runs in conjunction with the 2015 SIBA 40th Anniversary Discovery Show in Raleigh. Nearly 300 tables manned by southeastern booksellers will fill a trade-show floor that is Southern in its friendliness, social gatherings, and intimacy, and encourages many informal exchanges of ideas.

The Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance is a trade association which represents over 300 bookstores and thousands of booksellers in Florida, South Carolina, North Carolina, Georgia, Louisiana, Alabama, Arkansas, Tennessee, Kentucky, Virginia, and Mississippi. It exists to empower, promote, and celebrate their core member bookstores in a spirit of partnership.

The nonprofit North Carolina Writers’ Network is the state’s oldest and largest literary arts services organization devoted to writers at all stages of development. For additional information, visit www.ncwriters.org.

NCWN will have a table at this event featuring books by current Network members. Authors are invited to send up to five copies each, of up to three of their titles, for display.

Registration is now closed.

The hope is that booksellers will take these giveaway copies home with them to read—and later order and promote the books at their stores. At the very least, it’s excellent exposure to the men and women who do the hard work of selling books every day.

Held at the Hilton North Raleigh/Midtown in Raleigh, this year’s SIBA 40th Anniversary Discovery Show offers a trade show floor alive with books—more than 300 tables manned by sales representatives who are familiar with both the rewards and the difficulties of selling books in the Southeast.

The trade show is Southern in its friendliness, social gatherings, and intimacy, encouraging many informal exchanges of ideas. Select authors will be on-hand for readings and book-signings, as well as scheduled talks, encouraging lots of conversations about exciting new titles.

“Our members regularly tell us their experience at the show—the things they learn and the connections they make with publishers and other booksellers—is one of the most valuable business resources they have,” said SIBA Executive Director Wanda Jewell. “Large store or small, everyone seems to come away from the show with new ideas and new energy.”

That means NCWN members have never had a better opportunity to place their books in front of more Southern booksellers at one time—an opportunity that is unlikely to come around again, at least until SIBA turns fifty.

Interested in having your book displayed in front of nearly 600 booksellers?

For more information on the SIBA 40th Anniversary Discovery Show in Raleigh, click here.

The Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance is a trade association which represents over 300 bookstores and thousands of booksellers in Florida, South Carolina, North Carolina, Georgia, Louisiana, Alabama, Arkansas, Tennessee, Kentucky, Virginia, and Mississippi. It exists to empower, promote, and celebrate their core member bookstores in a spirit of partnership.

The nonprofit North Carolina Writers’ Network is the state’s oldest and largest literary arts services organization devoted to writers at all stages of development. For additional information, visit www.ncwriters.org.